Fallout: Disasters, Lies, and the Legacy of the Nuclear Age

FEATURING FRED PEARCE – Donald Trump has promised to revive the US’s nuclear capabilities, both in terms of upgrading weapons systems, and more recently in offering government subsidies to nuclear power plants that are going bankrupt. But the track record of nuclear power – whether through weapons or power plants – is simply not well understood.

Now, a new book by Fred Pearce takes us on a global tour of the nuclear age going back decades to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, US nuclear testing inside the country and outside, the Soviet Union’s nuclear activities, and disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Fred Pearce, has reported on environmental, science, and development issues from 85 countries over the past 20 years. He was the environment consultant at New Scientist from 1992-2018 and writes regularly for The Guardian newspaper and Yale University’s e360 website. His books include The New Wild, When the Rivers Run Dry, With Speed and Violence, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner, The Coming Population Crash, and The Land Grabbers. His new book is called Fallout: Disasters, Lies, and the Legacy of the Nuclear Age

**This interview was originally broadcast on June 7, 2018.